The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-09-28
THE PENSION BUREAU.

In minute, more wisdom, m swear, s.I Lax.
Ihan Is thut 10 The biggest oil books.
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THE PENSION BUREAU.
Eordicss Delays and ur"ss IoJustics-Cnssa
#. Of Hardship. Nh.
New York Tribune. ~ .a
II only one In ten OF the .complainta
made by pension claimants and pension.
ers on account Of tho...unressonable and
needless delays in the adjustment, OF thei,
bueiness by tho Pension Bureau Ia true,
there muat be Q good many screws loose
in the official machinery OF that branch Of
the pension service. OF course, In many
cases delays arc Unavoidable but as mat.
ter OF fact they can bstraced in thousands
Of cases TO official ;hostility, neglect or In.
difference, to lack of ,businees methods,
and, unfortunately for the disabled veteran
Or the needy widow, 10 the deeire Of the
Commissioner Of Pensions to nee bis OIL.
clal pontion to pxomote hin political am.
bstion and the fortunes OF hiH party. II Ia
extremely difficult for any por,on to OBJ
tain from tho records OF the Pom.
aion Bareau itself proof Of ita own
inefliciency, and suffering claim
ants themselves are restrained from
making their grievances known By fear Of
placing their interests In still greater
peril. Several months ego Western
Congressman related this incident: "a
diaabled veteran who held an honorable
4gcharge applied 10 me for assistance,
lie informed me that tho Commissioner
Of Pensions had called upon him nearly
two years before to supply certain testi.
mony to perfect his claim, and that he
had furnished 1t promptly. The only an.
sTer to several urgent appeals To the Pen.
sion Bureau waa a demand for tho add.
tional evidence which had been furnish.
ed. When the case was finally callodS ,p
that evidence, which had been filed wit,
tho other papers in tho case many months
before, was discovered. II had bsea over.
looked and two or three demands for 1t
had bsen made after 1t had been received,
That was an example Of gross official
neglect. Probably the applicant himself
might never have been able to drive it
Into the heads OF the officials that the de-
mand had been long before satisfied.
LONG AND yExATIoss DELAYS.
Many Representatives in Congress can
give scores Of incidents which have fallen
under their observation where applicants
have been subjected to long and yexatiouu
DELAYS through the hostility or neglec. Of
the Pension Bureau, but they are unwill.
ing to disclose the particulars for fear thst
the beaefciaries will be compelled to euf-
fer. More than ono applicant whose lot
terra OF complaint have found their way to
the official files OF the Pension Bureau has
hsd nad reeson to regret the writing OF
thom. .Q.. ~ ,.sl'=lsl3 d n,
"A pensioner who made bitter com.
plant against the Pension Bureau for
striking his name from the rolls has vain.
ly sought restoration. He is suffering
from cruel disabilities incurred in the ser.
vice, but they arc attributed by the pen.
sion officials to n felon or something OF
that sort which he had before he enlioted
in the army. A disabled veteran from
California informed the Tribune corres-
pondent that the disease which renders
him Incapable Of earning support by
manual labor Is absolutely progressive in
i!stnature, and WAS SO recognized by the
psnsion surgeons who examined him and
recommended largo increase in his
rating, and yet the Pension Bureau holds
that his increased and increasing disabil-
ity ia due to "o!d age" alone and that no
proof to the coRtEs1y will be admitted.
Arothar case shows that the complaints
against some Of Black's special examiners
are we'll founded, and that thoy are zeal
GUS and eager to prove that every dis-
ab!ed vsteran who draws q pension ia
ECoundrel. II is the case Of a poor, de-.
crepit old man. totterilg On tho verge OF
the grave, who3e name was stricken
from the rolls by the Commissioner. He
appealed to tho Secretary OF the Interior,
not only Tor restoration, but Tor An increase
in his rating, which was clearly his due.
The case ives referred to special exam
liner OF the Pension Bureau for invektiga.
lion. His report wss 60 clearly unjust
that it drew from the Gecretary-General
Bleck's superior c.Iicer-three comments:
.'The impression cannot be avoided that
he the examiner apparently entered up
on the investigation in the full belief that
the claim was fraudulent one, and that
HIS special mission YVES to prove 1t such,
rather than to obtain the facts and be
Just 10 the ciSimGae. Hia con-
clusion that II is fraudulent claim, with
out o veatigs Of merit, is unwarrauted."
The old mans name was restored to The
rolls, but his rating was not increased.
Several years ago q peEsioner applied to
the Pension Bureau to have IN examining
surgeon sent to examine him ct his bed.
side, aB his disabilities had 60 increased
lbat he could not leave his room and he
desired to spply for an increase in his
rating. Hie application was lled with the
other papers in the case, and never al.
swered. He died shortly afterwsrd. e In
another case, through inexcusable care
eeeneSs, q pension certificate which had
been Issued 'waa not mailed to tho hene.
dcisry until after long delay, and when
It rcssehed Ito destination the wsr.worn
veteran wna no more. He had had died
unpensioped. Moreover, when tho certi.
icato was repeiyed, the son Of the de-
ceased applicant, vho otherwise might
have received the money and obtained a
pension In his OWL right, had just passed
the age Of 10 yeaf4, 'Jsl5 ~ q s's
SOME or THE CAUSES OF DELAY. .,,.f
The Union veterans Of the war, whether
pensioners Or applicants for pensions or
not. will be interested in knowing come Of
tho specific Causes Of delay in the present
Standardization o. tho Pension Bureau.
One ia the ineiiiciency OF the Ooulmis.
sioner.f A second has been the employ
ment oil considerable part OF the clerical
forge in tho preparation Of Democratic